A SOLDIER was kicked to death in a "monstrous" revenge attack after a minor fall-out in a fast food shop.

Lee Martin, 22, was on home leave before a tour in the Falklands when he was brutally attacked in the street.

The thugs who committed the atrocity - kicking his head like a football - have never been found, but the man who enlisted their muscle was today beginning a five-year jail term after pleading guilty to manslaughter.

Dumaine Lander, 25, of Worsley Street, Manchester, was with his girlfriend at a takeaway in Cholton-cum-Hardy when Lee walked in with a friend.

The pair had an exchange of words which Lander perceived as a slight, and ended with the soldier offering to "go outside" to settle their differences, Manchester Crown Court heard.

But there was never any violence and when Lee, serving with the 1st Kings Regiment based at Catterick, and his friend left the shop, both were eating chips and were a threat to no one.

Moments before they went outside, Lander's girlfriend warned them he had called his pals and "they were coming".

'Insulted'

In fact, he had met two friends in Wilbraham Road, outside the shop, and told them he had been insulted.

When the two men walked out of the takeaway with their food, Lander and the duo attacked them both, then both of them turned on Lee, punching him to the ground and then kicking him.

One witness described him being kicked "like someone taking a penalty at football" as he lay helpless.

Then one of the men stamped hard on the side of his head.

Lee struggled to his feet but then collapsed, hitting the ground face first. He died in hospital from a brain haemorrhage eight days later without ever regaining consciousness.

Lander said the attackers asked him if he wanted them to give the targets a "slap" and he said yes, but never imagined the ferocity of the assault.

But Mr Justice Wakerley told him: "You bear a responsibility for this death. The assault was monstrous, but you did nothing to intervene, nothing to say: 'Stop it!'."

Lander refused to speak during police interviews and has never revealed the names of the killers, claiming he is afraid of reprisals. A é10,000 reward remains on offer for their conviction.

The judge added: "Lee was an honest and dedicated young man to his family and his country. His is a great loss."